Nostalgia and Roundabouts
by Cyni
Summary: Stand-alone story using primarily OC Characters. Starts off in Kanto, as Kerry takes on the gym circuit and finds herself as she finds her team. Along the way she faces challenges, opponents, strife, heartbreak and most importantly teamwork. I hope you enjoy.
1. Everyone Has A Dream

Everyone dreams of becoming a true Pokemon Master. But the definition of a true Pokemon Master hasn't been defined yet. Imagine the legends of Red, Gold, Lucas.. But go back a bit..

Bzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt.

Stupid alarm.

Bzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt.

I roll over onto my side, and carefully slam a pillow down over my phone.

Bzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt.

"RAAAAARRRGGHHHHHH!"

If that was an omen of how things would turn out, I wasn't sure what was. If I could go back, to this moment, I would.

I opened one eye with as least possible effort I could muster, reached for my phone and turned off the alarm. 7:29 AM it read. My entire life had built up to this exact moment. The morning of my 18th Birthday, when finally my parents would allow me to start my own journey.

Many trainers ended up leaving home between the ages of 15-18, so having my parents make me wait was one of the most irritating situations I could have been in.

With a sigh, I forced a smile and slid out of bed. Looking in the mirror, I glanced at the bags under my eyes. I looked absolutely shattered.

I could hear my mother singing in the kitchen, probably creating some incredible tasting breakfast food. Pancakes were my favourite of hers. Oh god I hoped it was pancakes.

Throwing on a baggy t-shirt, I throw my hair up into a messy bun and stalk down the stairs as the singing got progressively louder.

She must have heard me, as an angelic voice boomed beside me.

"Goooood morning!" She sang, "Happy Birthday hun!" She ran over and squeezed me into a hug. I felt my insides break against her embrace, and squirmed out of her grasp.

"Morning mom, you're up early."

"I've got work at 9, I'm so sorry Kez I wish I could be here for your birthday, but you'll be off to see the Professor around the same time won't you, so I don't feel to bad."

She looked sullen, so I pulled her into another embrace.

"Love you mom.."

"Love you too darling.." Her expression seemed to drop even further, until something flashed in her eyes and she went back to happily cooking away. "It's breakfast time!"

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"Right I'm off. I expect that you'll come home and introduce me to your starter Pokemon!" Mom shouted up the stairs, a twang of worry behind her voice. "Have a fantastic birthday, I know you'll make the right decision!" She stated.

"Goodbye mom! Have a good day at work!" I shouted down the stairs, and upon hearing the slam of the door I grab my phone and check my messages. Nothing. Clearly the world had forgotten it was my birthday. Oh well.

It was time to visit the Professor. It was time to start my journey as a Pokemon Trainer. Overcome with excitement, I fly down the stairs, grab my keys and shut the door behind me.

With the sun glaring down on Pallet town, I make my way straight over to the Lab at the south of town. Many trainers these days ended up buying their starter pokemon from breeders, however Professor Oak from Kanto had just started recruiting local trainers from here and Viridian City to take over the responsibility of filling up the pokedex whilst trialing the new gym circuit. His successor Professor Julian had only just passed over the mantle, so I was entering the lab with a large amount of hesitation.

I slowly step into the lightly lit lab. A monochrome theme of pure white and black filled my eyes and I approached the young sporadic man who appeared to be sleeping leaning on his desk.

"Professor Oak?" I exclaim. No response. "Professor OAK?" I exclaim a little louder. "PROF-ESSOR-OAK" I shout.

He shot awake with a shocked look on his face. "Ah Kerry Riley!" He exclaimed, still apparently half asleep. "So today is the day you join the squad."

I stride over to him, place a hand on my hip and shoot him a smile. "Let's get this show on the road! I've been thinking about starter Pokemon too. Do you have any options?" I ask, excitedly. I could feel myself getting impatient.

"Errr…" The Professor started at me with sleepy look. He must still not be with it.

To be honest I'd given a whole lot of thought into which Pokemon I was going to choose as my starter. I didn't want to go for a super rare one - as I wanted to find them all for myself.

Yet I was tempted to become a monotype trainer, preferably starting with Water. My father apparently had a Starmie which could face down legendaries without even breaking a sweat. But the idea of having a Vaporeon also appealed massively to me.

I also made a very strict rule for myself. I was starting this journey at near enough the same time as my best friend Roxanne in Hoenn, and we both agreed to only use the Pokemon native to our regions, to make it a bit more difficult.

I wasn't going to buy, I wasn't going to trade, I wasn't going to steal. I was going to catch each and every Pokemon I wanted on my team for myself.

Suddenly I remembered the idea of having a Psyduck as a starter Pokemon. They were pretty common. I liked the evolution too, they seemed very powerful.

"So?" I exclaimed, excitement taking over my whole body. I was shaking with anticipation to see what amazing starter pokemon awaited me from Oak.

"Well as you k-k-know, Kerry.. I've only just taken over from Julian, and I haven't actually had any time to go out and catch any cool starter Pokemon-"

I cut him off, "Well you know I've been thinking about that and I've decided I only want a common one anyway! Maybe a Psyduck, or perhaps a Staryu, I see them around everywhere!"

He looked embarrassed. "Kerry I only have two Pokemon with me, and I've already promised my sister one of them.." He walked over to the desk, where two minimised poke balls lay. He grabbed both of them, clicked the centre button and chucked out them both.

I could only stare. "Are. You. Serious?"


	2. Funny Looking Water Type

"Well which one is the one you've already promised away?" I exclaimed, looking shocked at the two choices in front of me.

On the left stood a bird, I recognised as a Pidgey. It appeared to smile as it chirped and hopped around, occasionally fluffing its feathers as it grew accustomed to its surroundings. On the right was a Caterpie. Nothing special, no facial expressions or anything. Just a plain old Caterpie.

For the first time in my life I hoped to have the bird. I absolutely hated birds, but nothing could be worse than-

"Oak! Todays the day!" The door swung open behind us. A beaming smile followed by a very energetic young woman flew into the lab. I was certainly up Muk's creek here. It was non-other than self proclaimed celebrity Jessica Birch. She was the girl in school that all the boys would swoon over, and the girls would envy. She was not only the most popular girl in Pallet Town, but due to her incredible success of singing over social media she was expected to be the next global superstar. In other words, a complete and total asshole.

She paced up to stand next to me, and glanced at the selection in front of us. "Is my Pidgey ready? I've already chosen a name and everything!" She exclaimed. She was a walking foghorn. The type of person who would announce her words ten times louder than everyone else.

"Jessie…" Oak mumbled, appearing distant in thought. Glancing his eyes back down towards the Pokemon figdeting around on the floor he seemed to collect himself, "Yes here he is. Freshly caught in the wildlands of Route 1, I present you with Pidgey." He handed her over what looked like a red smartphone and to my sudden surprise it automatically switched on. Following a blue screen, it started beeping furiously.

"That's a Pokedex. It automatically records whenever you view a Pokemon wearing the eye attachment which is clipped onto the back." He minimised the Pidgey back into its pokeball and instructed Jessie to place the eye-piece on over her ear, and look straight at the pokeball. Clearly the loud beeping of the dex started to get annoying, so he quickly tapped a few options on the screen and told her to stare directly into the camera.

"This is for your trainer ID, it needs photo identification and also stores all the information about your current party, your amount of badges and most importantly your name and date of birth. Scan this," Oak explained, placing the ball in her hand.

Whilst Jessie was fumbling around with her new device, clearly struggling to set up all the information, he handed me exactly the same thing. Which of course then began beeping until he pressed a few buttons and opened up what appeared to be a menu screen. Returning the Caterpie to its ball, he then handed me over what appeared to be my first pokemon.

"As I'm sure you can see, this is all I have left unfortunately, but it'll be a great incentive for you to go out there and start catching as many Pokemon as you can see!" He stuttered, pointing over to the dex in my hand. "If you'd like to fill in all the information you can see then we can finally set up your trainer ID."

I looked down and started to fill in all sorts of information about myself, my age, when I was born, where I was born, my next of kin details and the rest. Finally I landed on a screen which informed me to scan my first Pokemon. Placing the eye-thingy on my ear, I glanced through it and looked at the ball which was now sitting silently on the desk. The screen suddenly lit up, with all kinds of information.

'Caterpie, the Bug Pokemon. Level 5 Bug Type. Male. Moves: Bug Bite, Tackle, String Shot. Caterpie use their antenna to release foul stenches which are used to repel predators. It has large yellow rings over its body, resembling eyes which are used for defensive purposes.'

Suddenly the idea of owning the worm seemed a whole lot more interesting! I glanced over at Jessie, as she appeared to be reading the description of her own Pokemon. She glanced over at me, and both our eyes lit up.

"So, as I'm sure you both can see that the Pokedex is a very highly advanced piece of equipment. It's not just your form of identification, it's also your way of navigating through the world. Kanto isn't the only region you can visit you know!" He exclaimed with a wink. "What I want from the two of you is the fill the dex with as much information as possible, as you travel around the regions. Each of the professors from each region have tasked two teenagers from their local towns to do exactly the same things that you're doing. But if I'm honest I just want the two of you to follow your dreams."

"What's important to remember whilst you're on this journey is to enjoy every second of it. Make it exactly what you want it to be. If you choose to take on the recently opened gym quest and make your way up to the championship, or become a professor like myself, or even just open up a herbal remedy store, make sure you don't become influenced by other people to do something you don't want to do." Oak advises.

We both stare at him with open eyes, thinking of our future possibilities that the world of Pokemon could open up for us. "So is that it?" Jessie asks, clearly eager to start her journey.

"Yes Jess, that's it." Oak says as he slumps back down into his seat. For a 23 year old man he seemed to remind of someone a lot older.

Jessie turned to me and clutched her Pidgey's ball, "I suggest we have a battle to see which starter is stronger!" She exclaims, fire burning in her eyes.

Knowing full well that she'd have a type advantage over me, I ponder the idea for a minute. Lightbulb moment. "Tell you what Jess, let's have this battle when we get to Viridian City, just past Route 1. That gives us a bit of time to bond with our partners."

"Scaredy cat." She mutters, and storms out of the lab in a very positive manner.

I glance over at Oak, he just rolls his eyes and continues to mess around with his own dex. I give him a wave goodbye, and make my way back home. It was my birthday after all, I had some celebrating to do!

I can't believe I got stuck with a Caterpie, of all things! I chuck out my newly acquired Pokemon and get down on my knees so we can see eye to eye. "Hello there little guy, my name's Kerry! Nice to meet you." I look up at the sky and see how peaceful the sky is. Not a cloud in sight. That's it! Excitedly I look down at the worm, "I'm going to name you Sky! Do you like the sound of that!"

The Caterpie wiggles for the first time since I've laid eyes on it. I'll take that as a yes. Welcome to my team Sky.


	3. Absent Memories

I wave my mom goodbye whilst wiping a tear from my eye. This is the start of my journey. In imaginary hand slaps me across the face. OUR journey, I correct myself remembering I'd just attached Sky to my belt. Mom provided me with a few essentials that she'd used from her journey years ago. A few spare empty pokeballs, a couple of medicinal items and a few berries from the garden.

It was time to face Route 1, it was time to be a proper trainer!

Sky turned out to actually be quite a good battler. He kept many of the wild Pokemon at bay with either his string shot or tackling them to faint, without any instruction. He appeared to come to life whenever there was a battle, whereas most of the rest of the time he was more than happy perched on my shoulder.

I decided whilst I was on my own during this journey I'd have him out with me, mostly for protection purposes from the wild rats inhabiting the Route, but also so I wasn't left all on my own. I decided that instead of rushing to be the best like Jessie, I'd instead take my time and glance at all that the world had to offer.

Our first night together was one of the toughest I'd ever experienced. I'd often gone camping with my family, especially over the summer season, so I knew how to build a tent and sort out my sleeping bag. But I seem to remember Dad always having his Pokemon out to hunt and protect us during the night, whereas I was stuck with Sky who also had a tendency to sleep.

I awoke after falling asleep for literally a couple minutes to a wild Zubat flapping wildly around my tent. It had ripped a hole in the side and was trying to pick off Sky as bait. The wailing and screeching woke me up and I instantly tried batting the bat away. It left without much hassle, but clearly decided it wanted revenge as I woke up an hour later to what must have been a family of bats swarming inside my tent.

We tried to fend them off best we could but Sky ended up getting bitten far too many times to be safe, causing me to almost faint as I saw chunks of - well, worm - being ripped from his body. Returning him to his pokeball I grabbed my pack and sprinted off back onto the path. Surely Viridian City couldn't be too far from here.

Oh how wrong was I. Six hours later, as I fumbled along with sore soles and aching limbs, I finally find the entrance to Viridian City. "Home of the Brave and the Bold! That's the Viridian way!" A signpost glared, guiding me towards the lights of the local Pokemon Centre. Hang on - a Pokemon centre! I was safe! I knocked on the door repeatedly until another trainer came and let me in.

"What do you think you're doing knocking on at this hour!" The man shouted, clearly angry that I'd woken him up with my banging. Then he saw the state of me, and rushed me inside. Within a matter of minutes I'd found Sky's pokeball being taken off me and thrust towards what I gathered to be the nurse on call and bound up the stairs into one of the unoccupied rooms. Clearly feeling uncomfortable, the man checked I was okay and then swiftly exited the room.

Staggering, I walked over to the bathroom to try and wash my face. Fumbling around with the taps, I managed to cup my hands full with water and splash them over, causing stinging sensations to ripple through my left cheek. I gasped in shock as I stared up into the mirror.

Small scratch marks covered the majority of my face, and a small chunk of my cheek was missing and flowing freely with blood. My red hair was streaked with dirt and sweat, with half hanging out the bun sat on the top of my head. I was covered from head to toe with dirt.

What must have been half an hour passed, as I finally dragged myself into the single bed backed up against the wall. I'd managed to bandage up most of face in plasters, but would have to get the chunk wound checked out in the morning. With a sigh, I plug my phone into the wall to see no notifications. 7:13AM. Damn, Mom would probably just be waking up for work! I send her a text saying I've made it safe to Viridian City, then everything went black.

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The first thing I felt when I awoke was pain. A searing pain convulsed across my face, and my legs felt like I'd been walking for years on end. I'd seriously pushed myself. Was I actually cut out for this type of thing?

Getting lost in my own thoughts, I arose to a knock on my door. Grabbing my jacket, I quickly put it on over my vest top and slowly opened it. It was the man from last night. "Kerry Riley, I'm guessing?" He asked, handing over what looked exactly like my pokedex. Hang on, it was my dex! I must have dropped it last night. "Sorry for intruding but you dropped this last night in all the rush, I-.." He stuttered, his eyes glancing up and down at me, "I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you, it was the morning and.. I mean I was tired and.."

I watched his eyes glance me up and down again. To my disgust I realised I was stood there with my underwear full on display! Red lace seemed to send men crazy! Feeling my face go red, I hide behind the door and smile warmly back at him. "Yes that's mine thank-you! I'm so sorry I just didn't know what else to do." I said, feeling the smile drop from my face.

"It's okay.." He said, his eyes softly glancing back up into mine. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Your Caterpie is ready for you to collect downstairs whenever you're ready, and I made sure I added in my ID details into your dex just incase you wanted to contact me. I've been travelling for three years around Kanto now so I know my way around pretty well. My name's Ethan, by the way." With a smile, he was gone.

I sorted my stuff out, locked the room behind me and made my way down the stairs to approach the reception desk. With a smile, I glance at the lady fumbling around with her glasses behind the desk. "Hi, I'm here to collect my Caterpie?"

The woman looked up and smiled at me, then continued to do whatever it was she was doing. I wonder if she didn't hear me.

"Excuse me." I exclaim a little louder.

Again she smiled, almost looking frustrated with my question like it had a stupidly simple answer, then looked back down.

I coughed, loudly.

Realisation seemed to smack her in the face as she opened her mouth, "Oh, have you not been to a Pokemon Centre before?"

"No…"

"Well!" She said, seemingly brightening up. "I am Nurse Jean, and thank-you for staying with us! Pokemon Centres are free for all trainers to use up until their fourth month since registering their Trainer ID. Whilst we take the Pokemon off you, we also register that you've left them under your trainer ID. In order to collect your Pokemon, you simply scan your dex on this white table over here," She pointed over to a white table located next to the desk, "and we will bring them out directly to you!"

I rolled my eyes, that explains things then. I pull out my dex from my pocket, and quickly scan it over the table. With a beep, it showcases my photo identification followed by an image of Sky. Another nurse quickly walks out from behind the desk and passes me Sky's Pokeball. She smiles and returns back to her duties. Fake bitch.

I check the time on my phone, 3:40PM, with a text saying 'love you glad you're safe xx' from Mom. Bless her. Well I suppose it's time to explore Viridian City! After last night I definitely needed to get myself a bit more prepared for when I went to face the wilds again, and most importantly I needed to make sure I had medicines available to help Sky out.

With the sun glaring in my face, I swan through the glass doors feeling revitalised, only to turn on my heels when I heard my name being called and a familiar face running towards me.

"What's up twerp! God you look rough!" She exclaimed, almost running straight into my face. Idiot. "My question is how on earth did you get here before me!"

I glance up at her, was actually nice to see a familiar face in such a big place. "Clearly just the better trainer," I joke with a sarcastic glint in my eye.

"Let me go heal up Jacob, then we can have a battle!" She said, racing past me to go heal up her injured Pokemon. What I didn't realise was that healing up Jacob took time for us to go shopping for the medicines I wanted - I also grabbed a few poke balls, and have a nice catch-up meal at The Persian Tavern.

Turns out that Jessie's journey here was a much easier ride. She managed to meet up with a couple other first time trainers, and make her way here with them after getting what she described to be 'the best nights sleep of my life'. Of course I was jealous. She didn't seem to sympathetic towards the start of my adventure though and ended up cutting me short to go pick up Jacob, the name she'd chosen for her Pidgey.

Within fifteen minutes we were staring each other down under the soft streetlights by the entrance to Route 1. A few trainers gathered behind Jessie, most of which I'd guessed had met her on the way here, seemingly supporting her in our first battle.

I was too busy trying to think of a strategy to notice she was clapping in my direction, trying to get my attention. "Let's go!" She exclaimed, throwing out her Pokemon with a sassy flick of her wrist. "Jacob, you know what to do!"

Jacob appeared next to Jessie with a bright white light, and hopped around looking confused. I realised I hadn't actually checked on Sky since he'd been admitted to the Pokemon Centre, and felt the nerves rock my body.

"Come on Sky, let's show her what we can do," I announce, throwing out the ball to reveal Sky in a bright white light. He looked good as new! Where the chunks ripped from his body had now scarred over, he looked to be getting bigger, and almost muscular in physique. Muscular for a Caterpie anyway.

"Sky, start us off with a string shot! Try blinding her Pidgey." I suggest, pointing to the opponent. With a squeak Sky bellowed out a thick slimy layer of string, coating over the Pidgey's wings and tightening its beak shut.

Clearly upset, the Pidgey began hopping around, trying to flex its limbs to break out of the tight sticky layer of string slowly covering the key areas of its body. Glancing over at Jessie's reaction, I began to laugh. Who says type effectiveness matters.

"C'mon Jacob! Break free and try to attack it or something!" She shouted, getting frustrated. Jacob was clearly trying his hardest to break free, but with no success I decided to put the bird out of its misery.

"Sky, attack it!"

Sky suddenly shot forward with blazing speed I was unaware he even possessed, and smacked straight into the struggling Pidgey. With the momentum from the speed and the power of Sky's tackle, the bird flew across the floor and was left in a heap on the floor at Jessie's feet.

"Damn it!" Jessie screeched, returning Jacob to his ball with a bright red light. "We'll get them next time."

I glance at Sky with a broad smile on my face. We just thrashed her! "Well done Sky! I'm so proud of you. Won our first rival battle!"

"Yeah yeah okay, we get the point. You won't be so happy next time though. I promise you I'll wipe the floor with you by the next time we battle! Rematch when you get to Cerulean City and I'll show you what a real trainer can do!" Jessie projected, then turned on her heels with her gang of fans and retreated back to the Pokemon Centre.

I pick up Sky and place him on my shoulder, brimming with confidence. Maybe I could do this. Scrap that. I know I can do this.


End file.
